Southeast Idaho Phosphate Mine Site: Natural Resource Damage Assessment

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This website collects information relevant to the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Program for the Southeast Idaho Phosphate Mine Site. Phosphate exploration and mining in southeast Idaho was first conducted in the early 1900s, with mining activities continuing to the present day. Large-scale phosphate mines in the region consist of open pit or contour strip operations. Historic phosphate mining operations involved removal of soils and rock to access the phosphate ore. As ore was excavated, overburden rock and waste shales containing selenium were excavated. This overburden and waste shale were placed adjacent to mine pits, or backfilled into pits. Historic reclamation practices changed throughout the mining period from little to no reclamation requirements to today's more stringent standards. Historic and current phosphate mining operations have occurred in southeast Idaho, with most individual mines occurring near the city of Soda Springs, Idaho. Mining impacts have occurred over an approximate 17,000-acre area within portions of Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, and Caribou Counties, Idaho. The Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) Mine Site Project Area contains 16 major open pit phosphate mines and two processing facilities. In 2015, the Southeast Idaho Phosphate Mine Site Natural Resource Trustee Council (Trustee Council) was formed to develop and coordinate damage assessment activities at the Mine Site and to plan for the restoration of natural resources through the NRDA process. The NRDA process is separate from the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study process. Under NRDA, the Trustee Council will evaluate if natural resources were harmed over the time that the area has been contaminated and will develop a restoration program to compensate for those losses, if necessary/appropriate.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Ecology [URL only is there]

SWAP (2/19/2016) citation:
[FWS] US Fish and Wildlife Service. 2014. Southeast Idaho Phosphate Mine Site: Natural Resource Damage Assessment. [place unknown]: US Fish and Wildlife Service. [accessed 2015 Oct 14]. http://www.fws.gov/idahonrdar/.